![]() The apartment complex formed the heart of the African American community just northwest of Mile Square. Initially, Lockefield was racially segregated, but it offered Black residents a community-oriented place to live. Monthly rents ranged from $20.80 for a three-room apartment to $30.10 for a four-room group house. ![]() The area now serves as an apartment complex on the IUPUI university campus, although urban professionals are invited to live there as well.Opened in February 1938, Lockefield Garden Apartments offered comfortable apartments at a reasonable price. The new total housing units of the complex was 493, including 199 in the original structures. Eleven new buildings were made, and the original buildings were renovated. The remaining structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1983, after demolitions, only units along Blake Street and Locke Street (now University Boulevard), out of the original twenty-four buildings, remained, despite protests by Indianapolis preservationists. In 1980 it was decided that, in addition to an immediate need to house athletes from the Pan Am Games being hosted in Indianapolis, part of the Lockefield Gardens area would be used for the expansion of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), a campus of both the Indiana University and Purdue University systems. As a result, the apartments closed in 1976. Hugh Dillin thought it would lead to continued segregation of an educational and residential level. A redevelopment plan in the 1970s was hoped to revitalize the district, but federal judge S. Due to income restrictions and more prosperous African Americans leaving for the Caucasian residences, Lockefield Gardens began its decline. In the 1950s, as racial equality improved, African-Americans began moving to what were residential areas mostly inhabited by Caucasians. Lockefield Gardens became the nucleus of the black community located immediately northwest of downtown Indianapolis. When it originally opened, Lockefield Gardens was racially segregated, but it allowed African-Americans something they rarely had: a community-oriented residence. The spacious, wide-open areas of Lockefield Gardens were an oddity other New Deal housing projects were cramped. After construction, it was considered one of the best of the New Deal housing projects. Lionel Artis was chosen as the original apartment housing manager, a position he held until his retirement in 1969, a span of over thirty years. Rents ranged from $20.80 to $30.10 a month. It featured plenty of ventilation, abundant natural sunlight, and pleasant views of the area. McCoy Public School #24), and a small shopping arcade. ![]() Among the amenities of this housing were a central mall, four playgrounds (with thirteen smaller play areas), a school (William D. "Corner", "strip", and "tee" models used by the Public Works Administration in other projects were used here. ![]() The twenty-four buildings which made up the complex ranged from two to four stories. Severin Company of Chicago, based on European prototypes. Twenty-two acres along Indiana Avenue were chosen to become 748 separate housing units, under the direction of the Russ and Harrison architecture firm, built by N. Three million dollars was spent on the Lockefield Gardens project, which opened in February 1938. Site plan, prior to partial demolition in 1983. ![]()
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